1. Field
The present inventions relates generally to integrated circuits (IC) devices, and more specifically, to a method and system for controlling transmission and execution of commands in an IC device.
2. Related Art
An IC device may include a plurality of functional devices operating in a permanent or temporary master/slave relationship, where the direction of control is established from one group of the devices (“master devices”) to the other group (“slave devices”). In the master/slave relationship, master devices generate commands to the respective slave devices, which communicate back to the master devices on the status of execution of these commands. Reports confirming execution of the commands by slave devices are referred to as “acknowledgements”.
In operation, the master device generates a new command after receiving an acknowledgement that the preceding command (or commands) has been executed. In the IC device, individual master and slave devices may have different levels of precedence and the respective commands and acknowledgement have different levels of priority. In general, the levels of priority of commands and acknowledgements are defined by functions of the particular master or slave devices, applications running in the IC device, or program steps of these applications.
Real-time control over the traffic of commands and acknowledgements originated by multiple master and slave devices is a complex process, which effectiveness determines operational performance of the IC device. Despite the considerable effort in the art devoted to development of methods and systems for controlling transmission and execution of commands in IC devices, further improvements would be desirable.
It is contemplated that features or steps of one embodiment of the invention may beneficially be incorporated in other embodiments without further recitation.